Chapter 205
Translator: penny
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: A Conversation of Swords
“Let's have a conversation with our swords,” Go Yohan said.
This left not only Kim Taesan and Yu Baekgyun baffled.
“......?”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”
Even the onlookers wore puzzled expressions.
A conversation with swords—such words had no place in modern society.
“You're Kim Taesan, right?”
“...That's right.”
Overwhelmed by the sheer oddity of it, Kim Taesan came to his senses only to find himself responding to Go Yohan's words.
“And you're unhappy with Master Yu Baekgyun here talking about swords.”
“...Correct.”
“Master Yu Baekgyun.”
“Speak, swordsman fated to wield the blade.”
Kim Taesan scowled at Yu Baekgyun's words, but Go Yohan nodded as if unperturbed.
“You have something to say about swords.”
“Well...”
“You're no fraud, are you?”
Something about Go Yohan's words acted as a trigger.
A ripple.
Something like light flickered in Yu Baekgyun's eyes.
“You... believe me?”
“My body isn't easily fooled. Moreover, I agree that you're fated to wield a sword.”
“So let's converse with our swords.”
Out of touch with modern society, perhaps.
But that was exactly it.
In the players' world from the start—
Survival of the fittest.
A world with Babel and swordsmen wielding blades.
Such words were perfectly understandable.
“I'll be the judge.”
Go Yohan stepped back as if it were the most natural thing.
“You two clash with your swords and say what you want through them. If your message gets across, isn't that enough?”
In that moment, his subtle aura enveloped the surroundings.
“Fine.”
Surprisingly, Kim Taesan responded first.
“Call it a sword conversation or whatever. Let's do it.”
Even as he spoke, Kim Taesan eyed Yu Baekgyun.
“So, will you?”
Receiving Kim Taesan's gaze, Yu Baekgyun—
Trembled.
“Is this your first time? No, I've proposed this ridiculous nonsense countless times for my old friend. If you want, try anything with that sword. But do you know what?”
A sneer curled on Kim Taesan's lips.
Not mockery, but contempt.
“Yu Baekgyun, the Snow Sword can no longer wield a blade. And it's not some physical issue. They say it's psychological. All while claiming he's fated to wield a sword or whatever nonsense.”
As Yu Baekgyun bowed his head, Kim Taesan sighed as if to say he knew it.
But.
“Understood.”
Today was different.
“......!”
“Let's have that sword conversation.”
Was it a plea from his longtime friend?
-Do it.
Or the voice in his head, like a hallucination?
Step by step.
Yu Baekgyun slowly gripped a wooden sword lying on the floor.
Trembling.
True to Kim Taesan's words, Yu Baekgyun shook as he held the wooden sword.
Yet at the same time, the trembling seemed to gradually subside.
Finally.
“Hand me one too.”
Kim Taesan also took a wooden sword from Go Yohan.
It was merely a wooden sword.
Whoosh.
Yet an intense aura instantly enveloped the surroundings.
“Guild Master!”
The guild members who had come with Kim Taesan called out to him in concern.
At a time when all eyes were on Kim Taesan, riding high on a wave of success, even a minor injury here could—
“Are you worried I'll lose to my friend who hasn't held a sword in ages?”
Even defeat could shatter Kim Taesan's skyrocketing reputation.
“But...”
“Enough.”
Whoosh!
Kim Taesan emanated his aura once more and assumed his stance.
In response.
Trembling, Yu Baekgyun raised his sword.
“Very well.”
Go Yohan raised his hand.
“Begin.”
Then brought it down.
Boom!
*
*
*
Kim Taesan was a swordsman who exuded sheer ferocity.
From Babel's 5th floor onward, it was official via Babel's announcements: one's abilities specialized based on the weapon they wielded.
Depending on the weapon held and the fighting style.
[Mountain-Cleaving Strike]
That skill and his stats grew accordingly.
Kim Taesan's usual weapon was the massive greatsword held by the guild member at the dojo door.
His single stroke with it swept through monsters like a mountain collapsing.
Boom!
When he came to, Yu Baekgyun was blocking it with his sword.
But merely blocking in name.
Tremble!
Kneeling on one knee, barely holding his ground—that was all.
“......”
Kim Taesan's icy glare.
“Today, I'll bring you back to your senses.”
The raised sword.
Boom!
Came crashing down again.
Against the second strike, Yu Baekgyun could only slant his wooden sword upward to block.
“There was a time I respected you as a swordsman. No, I still do. So enough with your stubborn delusions.”
“It's not delusion!”
“No.”
The sword rose again.
Yu Baekgyun thrust out as if to counter, but Kim Taesan dismissed it like a mosquito's wingbeat and struck down once more.
Boom!
An unbelievable roar for wooden swords clashing.
And then.
Crack!
Yu Baekgyun's wooden sword shattered outright.
Whoosh!
The falling blade stopped at Yu Baekgyun's shoulder.
What was astonishing was—
“......!”
That Yu Baekgyun had barely, just barely blocked Kim Taesan's strike with only the hilt remaining.
A glint in Kim Taesan's eyes.
“I'm not crazy!”
Yu Baekgyun bellowed.
“You too are fated to wield a sword!”
Fated to wield a sword.
“What the hell is this 'fate' that's turned you into this!”
As if unable to endure those words, Kim Taesan swung down with finality.
-Do it.
A voice echoed in Yu Baekgyun's mind.
-Do whatever you want without fear.
Yu Baekgyun turned to look at Go Yohan.
The voice he thought was a hallucination.
-I'm here, so no need to worry.
Was real.
The observer standing there.
The man fated to wield a sword.
“Swing.”
A voice straight from reality.
In that instant, Yu Baekgyun's eyes widened as if tearing.
It wasn't the voice that haunted him daily.
-You are fated to wield a sword.
-You are fated to become a sword.
-Sword...
That voice.
“Aaah!”
Was no illusion.
In that moment.
Flash!
Veins bulged on Yu Baekgyun's arm gripping the hilt.
Hummm!
Whirling mana, air on the verge of explosion.
Snowflakes began falling from somewhere.
And then.
Slash!
Finally, Yu Baekgyun unleashed a strike.
*
*
*
Those most sensitive to Babel's changes were, naturally, Yu Se-hwa and Go Yohan.
Yu Se-hwa, the core axis of Babel itself, as a matter of course, and Go Yohan, who had established all its pillars for maintenance while seeking the goddess's traces and the pantheon's divinity, had assimilated deeply with Babel.
'There's a change in Babel.'
Yu Se-hwa said.
'Hard to discern until now.'
She added.
'Something is awakening—that's all I know.'
And Go Yohan.
'I have a rough idea what it is.'
Felt the change even more acutely.
The difference between Yu Se-hwa and Go Yohan.
It was.
-Time spent on Earth.
Yu Se-hwa seemed to think the change originated from Babel itself, but no.
“This change.”
Go Yohan said.
“Began long ago.”
In that instant, an illusion swept over him: the whole world blanketed in white snow.
All noise vanished, light poised to engulf everything.
Amid it, something like black ink took form.
Grip.
It seized the pouring sword strike.
Slowly taking shape—it was Go Yohan.
“Huhk.”
A bursting breath came from behind.
Kim Taesan.
For one who had felt utter overwhelm and tasted death for a moment, it was a remarkably calm exhale.
And before him.
“Ah.... Ah...”
Yu Baekgyun gazed at Go Yohan in disbelief, letting out gasps of awe.
Only the hilt remained of his sword, yet atop it gleamed a pristine white blade.
“It's called the Ether Blade.”
Go Yohan spoke as if he knew it well.
“Ether.... Blade...”
Yu Baekgyun repeated after him like a child.
“The sword realm called a knight's soul. Few reach it, and it's not attainable through effort alone.”
In Travania, they had long called it that.
“Holy Sword.”
Holy Sword.
In that moment.
Thud!
Yu Baekgyun's heart seemed to stop, his pupils dilating.
“Wh-what's happening...”
As Kim Taesan recoiled from the incomprehensible scene.
“G-Guild Master...”
A voice from his guild members behind.
Turning back then.
Splash!
Kim Taesan saw it.
Black shadows encircling the area.
“......”
Speechless, he merely swallowed.
“This... is...”
A former ranker like Kim Taesan couldn't be unaware of this phenomenon.
Especially leading in Babel, he knew better than anyone.
A name impossible to ignore in this Babel, Korea, nay, the world.
“Sloth...”
Go Yohan's woman, Go Yohan's apostle.
One of the demon hunters called gods.
Sloth—Yun Seung-a's power manifesting as shadows.
And soon.
Rustle.
More shadows brought new figures into view.
They were Babel's administrators, among them those wearing crowns.
“High-floor... administrators...?”
Never seen before, but known from Babel's announcements—special beings.
High-floor administrators.
As if that weren't the end.
Boom!
Pristine white light erupted once more.